Bruce Cockburn lends his voice to the Collateral Damage Project

November 13, 2014 – Cockburn also continues to lend his voice and name to causes he feels strongly about. Earlier this year, he became involved with the Collateral Damage Project, a cause concerning suicide rates among men in Native or First Nations communities. Cockburn was approached by the organization’s founder Scott Chisholm about bringing awareness to the organization and doing a Public Service Announcement regarding it.

For a long time when I was younger all the people I knew who died were suicides,” he says. “There weren’t that many, maybe half a dozen people I was acquainted with who killed themselves. I’m not sure if I totally agree with the negativity of suicide if you are a cancer victim or if you’re terminally ill with anything and looking forward to years of suffering. As long as it doesn’t come back on your family.

“The big problem with suicide is in all but those circumstances it’s a terribly selfish act. Some of that made it seem like something to get involved with. And, of course, in the Native communities where suicide is a huge social issue, not just a matter of individuals, it’s kind of epidemic. So there’s a real point to try to head it off in that setting too.”

It’s just one of the many causes and humanitarian work Cockburn has done over the years, work that seen him given the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Award earlier this year. The singer says he’s selective when it comes to choosing causes.

“It’s a lot about circumstance,” he says. “I get asked to do all sorts of things that sound really worthwhile. A lot of them I have to say no to or don’t even get around to really properly responding to because there isn’t time. So when things like this do happen there’s a kind of fortuitous synchronicity factor that allows it to come off.”